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Your Computer Vol.1 No.1
This issue is dated June/July 1981 and cost 50p Regulars Contents / Editorial - 1 page (3) Computer Club - 1½ pages (9-10) Response Frame - Trevor Sharples & Tim Hartnell - 1 page (35) Fingertips - David Pringle - 1 page (45) Store Guide - 1 page (53) Competition Corner - ½ page (55) News News Headlines - 2 pages (6-7) *'Vic set to be success': VIC-20 to be launched in UK for £160 (6) *'Making yourself heard': Speakeasy by Wide Band Products (Voice Synthesizer) (6) *'Business payroll program for Sinclair': Payroll program for ZX81 by Syntax Software and ZXbug for the ZX80 by Artic Computing (6) *'Schools teletext program': 10 schools take delivery of special Mullard TV sets (6) *'Government backs micros in education': Scheme launched to put a micro in every secondary school (7) *'Nascom bought by Lucas': Lucas Logic take over ailing Nascom company (7) *'Fastest Pascal compiler': Pascal compiler released by HiSoft for the Nascom, also a music board released for the Nascom by BBF (7) *'ZX-81 peripherals are already available': Keyboard Sounder, Tape Recorder Interface and B&W Reverser by D. Bruce Ltd and Plug in User port for the ZX-80 by JMJ Interfaces (7) Features Review: The Sinclair ZX81 - 3 pages (12-14) : Sinclair unveiled the ZX-81 in March, 12 months after the launch of the £100 ZX-80. The ZX-81 at £69.95 - £49.95 in kit form — represents another step forward in technology by Sinclair and offers a number of facilities which were unavailable on the ZX-80. How good is it? In this review, Tim Hartnell takes a close and critical look at the latest Sinclair computer. Pleasure and Business - The Atari '''- 2 pages (17-18) : The Atari 400 and 800 personal computers blend business with pleasure: they combine sophisticated game-playing facilities with the potential of a business computer. David Bannister looks at the tradition which produced these machines and assesses them from the hardware and software angles. '''Interview: Kit Spencer - 2 pages (20-21) : Kit Spencer, who masterminded the Pet's penetration of the personal computer market in the U.K., has just taken up a new post as Commodore's European marketing director based in Switzerland, Before he left, he talked to Chris Hipwell about the personal computer phenomenon and about the Vic-20 — Commodore's bid to put a computer in every home. Ringing the Econet Changes - 2 pages (23,25) : In its capacity as the U.K.'s Silicon Valley, the city of Cambridge has provided the setting for the development of two important network systems — the Cambridge ring and now, Acorn's Econet. Bill Bennett looks at the Econet broadcast network, its future in education and offers an example computer-aided-learning program of the type the system might use. Languages: In search of the Standard Basic - 2 pages (26-27) : Peter Laurie sets out on a quest to find the standard form of the most widely-used programming language, Basic. On this perilous journey, he treads the marshy ground between standard and eccentricity where machines speak in strange tongues and he explains the origins of these obscurer dialects. The Black Art of ZX~80 PEEK and POKE - Martyn Thomas - 1½ pages (29-30) :Many versions of Basic contain three powerful statements which are the keys to a completely different world of programming. The three statements are PEEK, POKE and USR, and the world they reveal is one in which ROM has no secrets, and the full power of your microcomputer can be yours for the first time. BBC's Proton Project and the Nuclear Family - Martin Hayman - 3½ pages (36-39) :Controversy is still surging back and forth over the BBC's decision to put Acorn into the front-line by choosing an adaptation of its forthcoming Proton model as the "standard" micro for the 1982 series, Hands-on micros. Yet, as Your Computer has found, the programme makers are not daunted by the doubters and backbiters from the ranks of the microcomputer professionals and are pushing ahead with their initiative to popularise computing by putting it into every home. Essential Kit~Building Techniques - John Dawson - 4 pages (40-41,43-44) : The time spent building a kit is never wasted. Apart from the real financial savings — which can be enough on the first kit to pay for tools lasting many years — there is a certain satisfaction when the machine works which is denied to people who merely attach a mains plug to one end of a piece of wire. Type-Ins Software File - 4 pages (47-50) *ZX-80 **Crossword Challenge - Colin Hogben (47) **Reaction Timer - Andy Hope (47) **Bar-Graph Plotter - Peter Collingridge (47-48) **White-Dot Destroyer - R J Price (48) **Polynomial Solver - Paul Duckett (48) *Atom **Graphics Search - Allison Brown (49) **Auto-Run Tape Loader - Ian Pine (49) **Cartoids Drawing - Martyn Smith (49-50) **Atomic Space Battle - Christopher Histed (50) **Atom Information - Derek Haslam (50) *UK101 **Escapist Solution - J Gordon (50) Adverts Games *'Microtanic Software' - Games 1, Games 2, Games 3 - Page 28 *'Quicksilva' - QS Defender - Page 28 *'The Essential Software Company' - Super Invasion & Double Breakout - Page 39 *'Program Power' - Lunar Lander Supreme, Startrek II, Invasion Earth, Alien Labyrinth, Cowboy Shoot-Out, Invader Force, Star Trek, Demon Dungeon, 3D Noughts & Crosses, Breakaway, Reaction Race - Page 52 *'Bug-Byte' - Fruit Machine, Atom Breakout, Atom Invaders, Pinball, UFO Bomber - Page 54 *'Control Technology' - Tape Book 20, Tape Book 30, Tape Book 50 - Page 56 *'Timedata Ltd' - Brkout / Ack-Ack, Shell Game / Invaders - Page 58 *'Syntax Software' - ZX80 Invaders, ZX81 Invaders, Galaxy Wars, 4k Wundapack One & 4k Wundapack Two - Page 60 *'A. Knight' - UK101 Games - Page 60 *'Molimerx' - Space Eye - Page 61 Magazines *Interface - Page 24 *Junior Computer - Page 51 *MicroComputer Printout - Page 59 Other *Online Conferences Ltd - Page 2 *Compshop Ltd - Page 4 *Maplin Electronic Supplies Ltd - Page 5 *Computer Publications; Brighton Computer Centre; Linsac; Cavern Electronics - Page 8 *JRS Software; LFH Associates Ltd - Page 10 *Chromasonic Electronics - Page 11 *Premier Publications - Page 15 *Silica Shop Limited - Page 16 *Mine of Information Ltd - Page 19 *MicroStyle - Page 22 *Wideband Products; Crofton Electronics Limited - Page 24 *Agar Computer Services - Page 28 *Computers For All; Hassoft - Page 30 *Interface Components Limited - Page 31 *Sinclair Research - Pages 32-33 *Acorn Computer Ltd - Page 34 *Tandata Marketing Ltd - Page 42 *Q-Tek Systems Ltd; Gran Computer Components; Tempus - Page 46 *IO Systems Ltd; Microage Electronics - Page 51 *Computer User Aids; Diskwise Ltd; Richard Francis - Page 52 *Cambridge Learning Ltd; Video Software - Page 54 *L.P. Enterprises - Page 55 *D. Bruce Electronics; Kelly's Computer Market - Page 56 *Lowe Electronics - Page 57 *M D R (Interfaces) Ltd; Currah Computor Components Ltd (sic) - Page 58 *Photo Acoustics Ltd - Page 60 *Cambridge Computer Store; MicroStyle - Page 62 *Micro Peripherals - Page 63 *ComServe - Page 64 Analysis Other Credits Staff Writer :Bill Bennett Production Editor :Toby Wolpe Editorial Secretary :Tracy Ebbetts Contributors :Tim Hartnell, David Bannister, Martyn Thomas, Trevor Sharples, Martin Hayman, John Dawson, David Pringle, Peter Laurie Publishing Director :Chris Hipwell Issue Index Category:Your Computer Issues Category:IPC Business Press Magazines Category:Magazines released in 1981 Category:Magazines cover-dated 1981